Cindy McCain walks back claim of stopping human trafficker

FILE - In this Nov. 17, 2018 file photo, Cindy McCain pauses while presenting the inaugural John McCain Prize for Leadership in Public Service to the People of the island of Lesbos, Greece at the Halifax International Security Forum in Halifax, Canada. McCain is apologizing, Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2019, after claiming that she intervened to stop human trafficking at the Phoenix airport last month. The widow of former U.S. Sen. John McCain told radio hosts at Phoenix station KTAR that she spotted a toddler with a woman of a different ethnicity and “something didn’t click.” She says she told a police officer, and the woman was waiting for a man who bought the child. (Darren Calabrese /The Canadian Press via AP)

PHOENIX — Cindy McCain is apologizing after inaccurately claiming that she stopped human trafficking at the Phoenix airport when she reported a toddler with a woman of a different ethnicity and "something didn't click."

The widow of former U.S. Sen. John McCain told stunned radio hosts that the woman was waiting for a man who bought the child to get off a plane.

"I came in from a trip I'd been on," McCain said on Phoenix radio station KTAR. "I spotted — it looked odd — it was a woman of a different ethnicity than the child, this little toddler she had. Something didn't click with me. I tell people 'trust your gut.' I went over to the police and I told them what I thought, and they went over and questioned her, and by God she was trafficking that kid."

McCain was discussing trafficking at the Super Bowl in Atlanta, which she said attracts sophisticated traffickers who sell women and children for sex. She urged people to speak up if they see something odd.

Phoenix Police Sgt. Armando Carbajal confirmed McCain requested a welfare check on a child at the airport on Jan. 30, but said "officers determined there was no evidence of criminal conduct or child endangerment."

Later, McCain, who adopted a daughter from Bangladesh, said on Twitter that she reported an incident she thought was trafficking.

"I commend the police officers for their diligence," she wrote. "I apologize if anything else I have said on this matter distracts from 'if you see something, say something.'"

McCain is an outspoken advocate for preventing human trafficking. She's co-chair of the Arizona Human Trafficking Council, which recommends ways to end exploitation, and trafficking is a focus for the McCain Institute for International Leadership at Arizona State University.